


Ianto is like Jesus - Resurrects

by Val9000



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Children of Earth Fix-It, Episode Fix-It: The House of the Dead Audio Drama, Episode: Audio Drama: The House of the Dead, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, It's the year 2037 and everything has changed, Jack and Ianto being in love, Jack and Ianto's insecurities and personal problems that get in the way of them being in love, Jack's immortality, M/M, Major Character Undeath, happy ending I promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-23 22:56:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17692715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val9000/pseuds/Val9000
Summary: Following the events of the House of the Dead, Ianto finds himself being chucked out of the closed Rift and back onto Earth. Ianto and Jack get a second chance but of course there's still lots of problems to face. This story details the struggles of Ianto's revival with both his interactions with the world and with his interactions with Jack.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone this is my first multi-chaptered fic and my first Torchwood fic. I hope you enjoy it! I don't have a beta and probably could've spent more time editing this but as this is my re-introduction into writing (I went through a period of time where I couldn't write but I'm trying to get back into it) I'm not too fussed. But if you see any errors please let me know! I'd appreciate it a lot. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this fic! 
> 
> Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me and in fact belong to RTD and whoever else. 
> 
> (I also might make edits along the way but I'll let you know if I've changed anything major.)

It was dark. Which was everything he expected, but it was still unsettling. He didn’t think he was supposed to be conscious. It took a while – or maybe no time at all, it was difficult to tell – for him to remember why he was in this situation.

He was Ianto Jones.

He’d just closed the Rift.

Everything was falling apart, the pub was loud in it’s destruction even before he detonated Jack’s device and now… well now everything was black. And silent. Eternal oblivion – that’s what Jack called it. He really didn’t think that you were supposed to be aware of yourself in oblivion. Or maybe you were. Maybe this was like dying. He’d compare the two except he still doesn’t remember dying.

He hated having to leave Jack. He wanted nothing more than to walk out the doors with him. Witnessing the effect his death – his _second_ death – was having on Jack almost made him drop the box and run for the door. But he couldn’t. Someone needed to close the Rift and it had to be him. He shouldn’t even have been alive. He shouldn’t even have existed. He doubted Syriath plucked his body from wherever it was held and pushed his soul back into it. No. This was a new body. A new soul. A body and soul built by a demon who reached into time and recreated him. Made real by Jack's grief. There was no way that was going to work out. May as well have gotten the “destroying his body before the demon used it for evil” out of the way as soon as possible.

But god did he want to leave with Jack.

Despite all the hurt and confusion that Jack caused him by bringing him back from the dead, he still loved Jack. He still wanted to leave with him.

And he was regretting his decision the longer he stayed in this void. It was dark. It was silent. He had nothing except his own thoughts for company. And that was never a good thing. He doubted the other Ianto - the _real_ Ianto - had to deal with this. Or maybe he did? From what Owen and Suzie said, it seemed as though his situation was similar to death. Actually. He might just be dead. It was only something different from death for Jack, who can’t die. Ianto felt kind of silly assuming that he wasn’t dead and he was glad no one else was around.

But then that feeling of gladness quickly gave way to loneliness. Eternity like this? He wasn’t sure how much time had passed but he was sure it wasn’t much at all compared to eternity. This must be how Jack felt when he considered his long life. A sinking feeling of dread.

Ianto contemplated some more about how he was going to spend eternity in unforgiving darkness when a bright light appeared. He had just enough time to think; “please tell me that’s heaven” before the white encompassed his entire view and he was dumped unceremoniously on the ground.

The ground.

What ground?

Everything was still white and his eyes hurt from it. Ianto didn’t think his eyes could hurt anymore. He blinked rapidly to try and get rid of the light. Was that ringing in his ears? He definitely didn’t think his ears were supposed to be able to ring. He also definitely didn't think there was supposed to be ground.

It wasn’t until someone’s face moved into his line of sight that Ianto fully understood where he was. The light wouldn’t disappear because he was staring at it. Now that that person blocked his view of the ceiling and by extension the light, everything became easier to look at. Not that he wanted to attempt moving and looking around properly. He did notice that the person was mouthing something, though. The ringing in his ears faded. The ground was cold and hard underneath him. Tiles?

His first thought was that this was Lisa. But no. Now that his vision stopped being so blurry he could tell that the face shape was entirely wrong. And this person’s hair was too long.

“-you oka-“

The silence burst like a bubble. He almost groaned at how loud it suddenly was but he couldn’t seem to get his body to move at all.

“Can you hear me? Are you okay?”

He did manage to answer that with a groan. He could hear people shouting at each other somewhere out of sight. The hums of machinery and and beeps of computers faintly underneath them. It was almost familiar, which made him relax. Before he remembered that he was in an unknown place and completely at the mercy of unknown people.

_Oh well._ Drifted into his head as he seemed to lose focus on the person above him. _I’ve already died once. Twice technically. I can die again._ It’s the last thought he has before he slips into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for Jack's pov.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone this is my first multi-chaptered fic and my first Torchwood fic. I hope you enjoy it! I don't have a beta and probably could've spent more time editing this but as this is my re-introduction into writing (I went through a period of time where I couldn't write but I'm trying to get back into it) I'm not too fussed. But if you see any errors please let me know! I'd appreciate it a lot. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this fic!
> 
> Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me and in fact belong to RTD and whoever else.
> 
> (I also might make edits along the way but I'll let you know if I've changed anything major.)

It really wasn't a good day. Michael was already yelling at him and he’d barely walked into the Hub. He tried to listen in but he was distracted by the dream he had that morning.

“You’re late!” It seemed to be the last point on his long list of reasons to be yelling, although Jack knew he could set Michael off for another couple of minutes if he didn’t play his cards right.

“Sorry. Alarm didn’t go off.” He attempted a bright grin to convince Michael that it was no big deal but judging by the anger fading away from his face and the pity replacing it, it didn’t work.

“It’s just that you’re supposed to be our leader.” The fight was completely gone from him and Jack distantly thought that he preferred the anger to pity. Jack was almost certain he’d said the exact same words in the rant before. Just as he was almost certain that Michael knew he wasn't listening.  

“I know, I know.” He tried the grin again, partnering it with a salute and punctuating his next sentence with a wink. “It won’t happen again, sir.”

It worked. Michael’s face scrunched up the way it always did when he was trying not to laugh.

“You have to stop calling me that. I might get ideas.”

“So long as they’re less about taking leadership from me and more about bedroom games, I’m keen.” The flirtation was instinct. Usually it’d be more than that, but his heart wasn’t in it. The dream he had took care of that. And he was doing so well without Ianto, too. Granted he didn’t have anyone in his life currently but there was that two-year relationship that ended in 2023. She was an asshole anyway. Not too hard to let go of. Plus, there’d been other flings. He hadn’t dreamed about Ianto since… probably 2032. It was 2037 now. Why was he dreaming about him again? There were no anniversaries relating to him nearby and the pain of losing him had faded to the point where he was able to look through the photo album of Ianto. So why now?

He knew he was never going to really get over Ianto. He had loved everyone else before Ianto but there was something about Ianto that made him more difficult to get over. Maybe it was the fact that Ianto had accepted him no matter what. He quickly pushed that thought from his mind. It was no use going down that road. It only made him more upset and the last thing he needed today was to breakdown in front of this team. Or to snap at them. They didn’t even know about Ianto and he wasn’t going to share his pain over losing him now, if ever. Not until it hurt less to think about him.

So he pushed the thought of Ianto away and went over to his tech, Maureen. But thinking about Ianto always led him to think about the rest of his team. His first team. As much as he loved his current team they would never hold the same place in his heart as his first team. Maureen was excellent but in his eyes she’d never be as good as Toshiko. Sometimes he recognised the unfairness of it. Most times he tried not to think about it.

“So Maureen, anything new for me?” He desperately needed to be kept busy so he wouldn’t have to think about Ianto and his first team. Maureen jumped at his voice, fumbling for the mouse as Jack lent over to look at the screen. What he saw made him smile. “Engagement rings?”

“I promise I was working!” Was the response he received. Maureen was still nervous around him despite being at Torchwood for almost a year.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s much less embarrassing than what I search up on company time.” He wanted to complete the sentence with a wink but Maureen was very determinedly not looking at him. “So. Who’s the lucky person? You never mentioned you had a partner.” He tried not to make it obvious he was living vicariously through their lives. He also tried not to think about Ianto.

If he had just-

But Ianto was dead so engagement rings shouldn’t make Jack think of him. They never got to that stage after all. Never really got close to that stage.

“My girlfriend and I have been living together for a while now. I thought it’d be about time…” Maureen trailed off, sounding almost embarrassed.

“That’s great! Just let me know in advance when the wedding is and I’ll make sure you get plenty of time to prepare.”

She did look at him now, a wide smile on her face, betraying her excitement. “Thank you, Jack.”

“Now though, anything I need to have a look at? Torchwood related?”

“Nope. I’m just running some programs but it’s all quiet.” Jack had just started to turn away when she spoke again. “Oh. Oh wait something’s happening.”

“What is it?” Jack asked, spinning around to watch the computer screens himself.

“A Rift spike! In the Hub! But the rift was closed ages ago. This shouldn’t be possible.”

There was a slight humming as the air gained a strange charge, the crackling sound of energy. Jack turned to face the bright light just as a person fell to the ground.

A person in a suit.

A person in a suit that looked suspiciously like Ianto.

But it couldn’t be Ianto. Ianto was dead. Jack saw him die twenty-eight years ago.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Brigitte gather her medical supplies, but he was only distantly aware of it. Maureen was stuck in her chair behind him in shock. He could hear Michael’s footsteps as he ran from whatever part of the Hub he was previously in to make his way here. But none of that mattered as Jack slowly made his way over to the body of the man.

Jack’s thoughts were confirmed. The man was none other than Ianto Jones.              


	3. Chapter 3

“Put your gun down.” Jack snapped. Michael clicked the safety back on and pointed the gun to the ground, but it was clear that he was still ready to shoot if necessary.

“What do you know, Jack?” Michael asked.

“His name is Ianto Jones and he died twenty-eight years ago.” He could only imagine what conclusions they were drawing from the tone of his voice.

“The Rift was closed. That shouldn’t be possible!” Maureen interjected.

“I know but he was there when it was closed. Kind of. Maybe… maybe this is what happened to him.” He tried not to feel hopeful about this situation. Ianto was gone. He died at the Thames House and the version of him that closed the Rift was created by a demon. Sure he was more realistic and alive than any of the other ghosts but Jack had to believe that he wasn’t completely alive. It was easier to believe that Ianto’s only death was at the Thames House. Knowing that Ianto would’ve left him anyway made the loss easier to deal with. In theory.

“Or maybe it’s something else. Like a shape shifter.” Brigitte said.

“Maybe.” He sounded miserable. “Maybe.” This time he got his voice under control. He needed to show that he could be clear headed and as unemotional as possible about this or else his team might doubt him and his decisions. They wouldn’t do anything cruel to Ianto when they weren’t sure about his intentions, but while he was in charge he could at least make this experience more comfortable for him until they were sure it really was him.

“We have to restrain him and put him in the vaults before he gets up.” Jack knew that Michael was right but that didn’t stop his heart from skipping a beat at the thought of handling Ianto like a hostile.  
  
“Don’t touch him!” Michael stared at him in shock, the first time he’d taken his eyes off of Ianto. Jack ignored him. “Brigitte. Check him out. I want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Jack, he could be dangerous. We don’t know for sure that that’s Ianto Jones.” Michael seemed conflicted between watching him and watching Ianto.

“I know that. I know. But what if it is? I need to make sure he’s okay.” He was aware that he was failing at being as unemotional as possible but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“And what about us?”

“He can’t seem to hear me.” Brigitte interjected.

“He’s clearly disoriented. He’s not about to do anything now.”

“Which is why we should use this time to restrain him!”

“Just wait until Brigitte says he’s fine! He fell to the ground what if… what if something happened? What if he’s hurt?” The thought of Ianto hurt make him sick to his stomach. He swallowed thickly. “We need to make sure he doesn’t need immediate medical attention and then you can move him.”

“Fine. But if something happens-“

“He passed out!”

Jack finally allowed himself to move closer at Brigitte’s shout. He knelt down next to Ianto, picked up his hand and held it. He didn’t care what they thought about the action, they’d probably already guessed what Ianto meant to him. “Is he okay?”

“He seems fine. Disorientated, but fine. He’s just absolutely soaked in Rift energy. I don’t have a good frame of reference since the Rift hasn’t been a problem in all the time I’ve been here but this seems like a lot.” Brigitte was certainly aware of his affections towards Ianto, going by the soft tone of her voice. Not that she was usually harsh about it, but more matter-of-fact. She seemed to be trying to soothe him.

“Have a look in the archives.” He tried to keep his voice from cracking. “Compare it. I need to make sure he’s okay.”

Brigitte looked past him and up at Michael while Jack found that he couldn’t take his eyes off Ianto’s face. He looked so peaceful. Like he was asleep rather than unconscious after falling through the Rift. Jack resisted the urge to reach out and run his hands over Ianto’s face, through his hair. This had to be too good to be true.

Whatever silent conversation Brigitte was having with Michael and possibly Maureen was over as she turned back to him. “We can move him.”

Having Ianto back – it was too good to be true.

“Jack?” Brigitte.

There had to be a catch.

“Jack?” Michael this time.

Jack nodded to buy himself some time to speak without his voice cracking. “Take him to the vaults. But I want to make it absolutely clear that he is only a prisoner until we verify that this is the real Ianto Jones.”

Michael’s hand was on his shoulder now. A silent support. It gave Jack the strength to drop Ianto’s hand and stand up. It gave him the strength to finally wrench his eyes away from Ianto and turn back to face Maureen. She’d been mostly silent during the encounter – trying to monitor the technological side of the Rift opening.

“I’ll look into it on my end, Jack. Brigitte, could you get me files when you go down to the Archives?” This was why he hired Maureen. She was nervous – especially around him – but when there was a problem like this she didn’t hold back. She did what needed to be done.

“Good work. Michael? Do you need my help getting him down there?” He said it without turning around to face Michael. Because that would mean facing Ianto.

“I should be fine.”

He desperately wanted to keep Ianto in his line of sight, but he knew that he needed to treat him as a threat until it was confirmed that he wasn’t. Both him and Michael were aware that the best way to do that was for him to get some distance from Ianto.

“I’ll help.” Brigitte said. “I want to check on him once again before we leave him there.”

Jack turned away and stalked back to his office. Slumping down in his chair, he took a moment to just breathe, before he turned the CCTV of the vaults on and watched as Brigitte and Michael carried Ianto down to the vaults and situated him in a cell. He watched as Brigitte took some quick blood samples as well as anything else that could help identify him. He watched as they left. He watched Ianto sleep and desperately wished that it really was him. He knew that would bring him just as much pain as this being a shape shifter of some kind, but at least if it was Ianto he might get some joy.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“I think you should stay away from him.” Jack knew it wouldn’t have taken long for Michael to confront him, but he was still startled by the sound of his voice – too focussed on Ianto and his thoughts to hear him come in.

“I know I should. But I’m the boss so…” He let his sentence trail off. Michael knew what he was going to say and it was a half-hearted attempt to argue anyway.

“You’re emotionally compromised. I’m second in command, this is part of my job – taking over when you’re incapacitated.” Jack watched as Michael moved closer with every word. By the time he was finished speaking he had his hands placed on the desk and was leaning forward.

“Yes but –“

“I won’t treat him badly. You don’t have to worry.”

“You’ll need me there for the interrogation. I’d like to take charge –“

“You shouldn’t even be there, let alone take charge.”

“He might not want to talk to you, okay?” Jack growled, frustrated that Michael won’t hear him out. “If I’m there, he knows he can trust you and tell us everything we need to know. We just tell him it’s in his future so he doesn’t have to hold back to protect timelines. I know I can’t take charge.”

“Okay, fine.” Michael nodded for emphasis and took a step away from the desk, now that he no longer needed to argue. He still had his arms crossed, though. A defensive position while still being a relaxed one.

“Now there’s a couple of reasons this has happened. A couple of explanations. This could be Ianto from before he died, it could be something to do with when the Rift was closed or he could be a shape shifter.”

“What can you tell us about him?”

“Ianto Jones – died at 26 in 2009. He was…” Jack swallowed the sudden block of emotions in his throat and continued, trying to be as clinical as possible. “He was killed by the alien race we have called the 456. He worked at Torchwood for roughly five years. He knows about aliens, he knows about protocol, he knows about the Rift. We only need to censor ourselves around him in terms of his death – just in case he’s from before.”

Michael looked thoughtful as he took in the new information. He stepped forward again to stand in his previous position and Jack tensed at the argument he knew was coming. “We can do that – but can you?”

“What?”  
  
“Can you resist the urge to tell him how he died? To try and prevent it?”

Jack hesitated. He’d dealt with time travel before but this was different. This was Ianto. He knew he shouldn’t but that didn’t mean that he knew he wouldn’t. “That doesn’t matter right now –“  
  
“I think it does!”  
  
“We don’t even know if this is before he died!” Jack stood up and matched Michael’s pose. “He… there was something else. He died in 2009 but I saw him again, after that. When the Rift was closed. This… it can’t be him. This can’t possibly be him because when I saw him there he wasn’t real. I mean, he looked real but he couldn’t have been… And even if he was, he couldn’t have survived that!” Jack knew he failed to keep his voice clinical this time. His throat burned from the effort of keeping it even and he swallowed again.

“Alright.” Michael stepped back again but Jack didn’t sit down. “But you hope it is him?”  
  
“I don’t know! Either way I’ll lose him again so…” The fight drained out of him and he collapsed back into his chair and put his head in hands. “I don’t know.”

“Jack –“ Jack looked up to see Michael looking concerned now. Less a professional thing and more a personal. He had already begun to step around Jack’s desk – most likely to comfort him – when he waved him off.

“Lets just go see what Brigitte can tell us – see how it matches up with what I know about him. Then we’ll interrogate him and see what he can tell us.”

“If he’s a shape shifter, it’ll be hard to catch. There’s so many different species-“  
  
“I’m aware.”

“I’m just trying to say that it may be some time before we can be sure it’s Ianto Jones! Which means he may have to stay in the vaults for… days, maybe.”  
  
“I know! I’ve been here for longer than anyone, I know how this works!” He couldn’t stop himself from yelling. He understood what Michael was trying to do but that didn’t stop it from frustrating him. They needed to get this situation under control fast, otherwise he’d be driven insane from Michael’s treatment of him – like he’s the new person. He knew Michael was just stressed, though so he tried not to snap at him too much.

“I just don’t want you to rush to a conclusion in the hopes that it’s him.” Michael started pacing, which was always a sign that whatever he was going to say next was more to himself than to any potential audience. “You shouldn’t even be on this case. I should be sending you far away. It never goes well when there’s emotions involved.”

“There’s always emotions involved. Anything less and we’d be-” He cut himself off.

“Maybe that explains why it never goes well.” Michael said, ignoring his last sentence.

“Hey! I like to think we do well!” It was easy to fall back into joking around. Michael was always good helping him do that, whether he realised it or not. He stood up and followed Michael out of his office.

Michael was the only one he allowed himself to have those types of conversations with. Not because he held Michael more fondly than the rest of the team, just that Michael needed to know how affected he was by any situation so he could stand in if needed. After the disaster roughly a decade ago Jack realised that much was necessary. Still, he never gave up more information than absolutely necessary.

He had to get his emotions under control or else Michael would take command. It wouldn't be bad for Ianto, but Jack hated having command taken from him at this point. Especially on a case that was so important to him. Maybe the information the rest of the team will no doubt be giving him in a couple of seconds will take his mind of the constant stream of thoughts about Ianto. Or then again, maybe it won’t, since it’ll all be about Ianto. 


End file.
